Minutes of the Vestry Meeting - June 20, 2016

Formation

Evening Prayer and Thanksgiving & Prayer Requests
The vestry met in the church at 7:00 PM for Evening Prayer and then reconvened in the undercroft meeting room where everyone offered prayers of intercession and thanksgiving.

Attendance
Present: the rector Kristin Orr; the senior warden Anne Edwards; the junior warden Steve Hofer; vestry members Bob Burgwald, Rob Carrier, Alice Creason, Nichole Dailor, Cynthia Turnquest and Zoltan Sziky; the treasurer Debbi Huggett; and the clerk Susan Marquis
Absent: vestry members Randy Oyster, Ted Stone, and Hans Zigmund

Parish Stewardship

Minutes
Alice Creason moved to accept the minutes from the May vestry meeting, and Rob Carrier seconded. Following a vote, the motion was approved.

Treasurer’s Report
Debbi Huggett reported that we are 3% behind in income, which is in keeping with the 97% of pledges that typically are collected. Expenses paid out are as expected. Bob Burgwald moved to accept the Treasurer’s Report, and Anne Edwards seconded. The motion passed.

Information

Rector’s Report
—Pastor Orr received a letter from parishioner Ginny Eysenbach, requesting the use of the undercroft for a 50th anniversary celebration in September. The rector approved the  request. Regarding space use in general, an Alcoholics Anonymous group and the Grand Prairie Children’s Choir use space and are charged a small fee. The Girl Scouts use space occasionally.
—Pastor Orr ordered a new bracket for the church welcome sign on Leavitt Avenue and Flossmoor Road. She is grateful that the village allows the sign.
—The lift doors had not been closing properly. The lift was under warranty for parts but not for labor. After Pastor Orr pointed out that the installer had made mistakes, the lift was repaired at no cost to St. John’s.
—The air conditioning in the worship space broke two weeks ago. It has been repaired, although the bill is not in yet.
—The rector and the senior warden will be on vacation at the same time next month. A group of former wardens along with the junior warden will be on call during that time to handle parish emergencies.

Wardens’ Reports and Reports from Other Parish Organizations
Steve Hofer reported that he is continuing to collect information on the history of St. John’s. Currently, he is involved in typing notes into his computer to be printed later. There is a gap in the years 1994 to 2003 in which there are no listed vestry members and no minutes. Steve requested that anyone who has information about this missing data should contact him.

Upcoming Parish Events
The parish again will welcome the community to the annual Ice Cream Social after the Flossmoor parade on July 4th. Help is needed on July 3rd and 4th, and especially for clean-up on the 4th.

Discussion and Decisions

Columbarium Project
The design subcommittee has met once and will meet again soon. So far, only one bid has been received from a potential contractor.

Parish Godparents
Rob Carrier reported that he has contacted the Daughters of the King. Pastor Orr said that she welcomes short status reports to publish in the “e-vangelist” and reminded vestry godparents to think about and identify other people in the parish who might have something to offer their ministries. The senior warden offered to add a couple of comments to the “e-vangelist” following reports at each vestry meeting. Landscaping godparent Steve Hofer reported that native plants will be added to the south end of the education wing where bushes recently were removed. Pastor Orr will be doing the planting.

Stewardship
The vestry discussed ideas for the fall pledge campaign. Much of the discussion centered around publicizing the activities of the church community by use of bulletin boards and posters in the undercroft and sending out electronic reports once a month that highlight a ministry. Alice Creason, Nichole Dailor, Anne Edwards, and Steve Hofer volunteered to serve on a parish ministry marketing committee with help from Cynthia Turnquest.

Closing

Following prayer, the meeting concluded at 8:35 P.M. The next meeting is scheduled for August 15th.

Respectfully submitted,
Susan Marquis
Clerk of the Vestry 

Approved by the vestry:  August 15, 2016